SEC orders Royal O’ to halt operations (Sabong News)
Author
VG Cabuag
Date
AUGUST 23 2021
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has ordered Royal O’ Consultancy Services OPC, Royal O’ International Import and Export OPC and their affiliate companies to stop soliciting investments from the public.
The SEC said Royal O’ is operating a scheme disguised as an investment platform for alleged gambling and medical supplies trading activities.
In an order the agency issued last August 12, the SEC directed Royal O’, which is a one-person corporation (OPC), to immediately cease and desist from offering securities in the form of investment contracts.
The order covers Royal O’s affiliate companies Oromagnet International EGames OPC, Plasmatech Medical Supplies Trading and Princess Joana Jo Alfajid Foundation, as well as owner and CEO Princess Joana Jo Alfajid Campos and president Gretchen Aguas.
The order also extends to representatives, salesmen, solicitors, agents, uplines, enablers and influencers, including Scelnna M. Jimenez, Christopher Dimaguila, Christopher Tundag and Honeylyn Grace Israel.
The SEC prohibited Royal O’ from moving its assets and cash from banks to ensure the preservation of its assets for the benefit of affected investors.
Royal O’ offers two investment programs, depending on the amount an investor is willing to part with. An investment of P5,000 to P499,000 with a three-month contract would yield a daily return of 3 percent, or 201 percent in 67 days, while an investment of between P500,000 to P10 million is guaranteed higher returns at 60 percent per month, or 360 percent for six months.
“The investment scheme employed by Royal O’ has the characteristics of a Ponzi scheme as it promises exorbitant returns with little or no risk at all to investors,” the SEC’s order read.
“Clearly, Royal O’s investment scheme is not sustainable because the time will come that no more new investors will come in, and this reality will likely cause grave or irreparable injury or prejudice to the investing public.”
Investors could also earn by recruiting more people into the program, where they are promised an additional 6 percent for direct referrals and downlines.
The funds sourced from the public are then supposedly invested in various businesses being managed and operated by Campos, such as Oromagnet and Plasmatech. The scheme involves the sale and offer of securities to the public in the form of investment contracts, in which a person invests his money in a common enterprise and is led to expect profits primarily from the efforts of others, the SEC said.
Royal O’ is initially registered with the Department of Trade and Industry under the name Royal O’ Financial Consultancy Services, and subsequently as an OPC with the SEC. However, records show that it has never secured a secondary license from the the agency as issuer of securities or broker dealer nor registered any securities for public offering pursuant to the Securities Regulation Code of the Philippines.
Investigations by the SEC Enforcement and Investor Protection Department revealed that Oromagnet, which supposedly operates online sabong or cockfight activities and casino operations, has no license, accreditation or any pending application to engage in such activities from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.
Plasmatech, meanwhile, is not a registered medical device establishment with the Food and Drug Administration while Royal O’ is not licensed to engage in the business of importation and exportation from the Bureau of Customs.
The SEC had warned the public against transacting with Royal O’ last February.
